When Venus saw Mörder’s grin, she knew he was about to attack. In that split second, she pushed her former lover aside. That slight move changed the killing blow to a crippling blow and the pirate-king’s blade ripped through the Red Falcon armor and severed his left arm about three inches below the shoulder. But before he could take a second swing and finish off Jax, Iaido was there.
Once again, the last Spartan found himself locking blades with one of his cousins. He couldn’t help but wonder, ‘Will it always be this way?’
* * * * *
Sheriff Jeffery Kassinger had regained consciousness sometime during the argument between the two Falcons and used the confusion to work the capture net open a bit. He still wasn’t free but that was only a matter of time. Inches from him were two items he needed to escape, a blaster and a grenade.
Kassinger played possum and bided his time until the right opening.
It came when the two swordsmen were dueling. Everyone in the area was watching the fight. Hell, even the Marine and the Admiral’s troublesome daughter had moved up next to the injured Jagger Jax and the red-headed pirate. Now, he knew where to throw the grenade.
Only the two SWAT officers would be outside the deadly blast radius but still close enough to knock them aside. Out of the corner of his eyes he could see the approaching Sheriff skimmers and he knew his window of opportunity was closing fast.
Pulling the pin, he tossed the grenade and made his move.
* * * * *
Now that the adrenaline rush from the gun battle was wearing off, DJ was feeling weaker and weaker.
Even the dazzling sword display in front of them couldn’t excite him. He was just too weak to care. He was actually starting to think that he might have some internal bleeding from earlier but then…
He lost his train of thought.
Something about the black canister with the blinking red light that just bounced off his foot caused him to forget what he was thinking. For some reason, it seemed important. But why? What could it be?
* * * * *
As Iaido blocked and parried his cousin’s attacks, his combat awareness skill kicked in and time seemed to slow down for him. Logically, he knew that time didn’t change, just his perceptions of his surroundings. When this skill kicks in, his military programming and combat reflexes take over. He doesn’t think, he just acts and reacts to the expanding situation.
It was this skill that allowed him to take in nearly everything that was happening around him. For example, as he worked his opponent’s guard up leaving a large opening underneath, he was aware of the Aetós and eighteen sheriff skimmers arriving on the tarmac. As he completed his spin and executed a beautiful reverse double thrust, he saw the black grenade bounce off his friend’s foot. Even as he felt his twin katanas pierce the Praetorian’s body, he knew that there wasn’t any way to cross the thirty feet between him and the deadly explosive. All he could do was witness the death of another friend.
What happened next would live in Iaido’s memory for as long as he lived.
Jagger Jax, even with his left arm barely hanging in place, leapt on top of the grenade. A split second later, there was a loud explosion and his body lifted several inches off the ground but the deadly explosion was contained by his body. Jagger Jax, ex-pirate and notorious thief, had sacrificed himself to save those around him.
Seconds later, Kassinger bolted up from his position and plowed through the two SWAT officers knocking them aside. Raising his captured blaster, the former Sheriff took aim. Several shots rang out.
* * * * *
Even as Spike fell, he began twisting to face the new threat. His partner Sponge Bob reacted with the same intent but got a little excited and pulled the trigger early. Unfortunately, his plasma rifle was pointed right at Spike.
The red hot ball of energy entered Spike’s leg just below the knee. At this range, the plasmoid tore right through the SWAT tac-armor and the flesh beneath it. Spike yelled and fell to the ground.
“You bastard! You shot me…again!”
Before Spurgeon could say or do anything, Spike returned the favor with his own rifle and shot him in the leg.
Sponge Bob fell to the ground grasping his leg. “You son of a bit…”
* * * * *
Even as Kassinger raised his weapon, his head exploded.
Kaitlyn looked around to find the shooter and discovered Stephanie and a pretty redhead in a deputy sheriff’s uniform. Judging from the smoking blaster that she was holding, it was the deputy that had fired the kill shot.
When her dad slumped to the ground, Katilyn yelled over her shoulder. “Stephanie! Hurry and get help. My dad’s hurt.”
Stephanie ran up to her and gave her a quick hug. “Help is on the way.”
“Help is already here,” came a melodic voice.
The three girls turned to find two women. The speaker was a Sylvan with waist long silver-white hair, emerald eyes and dressed in black leather pants and jacket with a silky green undershirt. The second was shorter, curvy in all the right places with shoulder length black hair pulled back into a ponytail and wearing a blue jumpsuit that seemed military in origin.
Ignoring the women, the sylvan moved up to DJ and placed two fingers on his forehead and said, “Sleep,” and the Marine was out. “Take him onboard. I’ll meet you in med-bay.”
Athena nodded and lifted the big man easily. “Come on Kaitlyn, let’s get your dad looked after.” Kaitlyn squeezed Stephanie’s hand once and followed the sultry android.
Talia ignored the deputy and the redheaded pirate and moved alongside the body of Jagger Jax. Placing one hand on his forehead and one over his heart, she closed her eyes and spoke in a strange dialect. After a moment, she opened her eyes and the ladies were shocked at their appearance. They had gone completely green, no iris, no pupil, just solid green. When she spoke, her musical voice seemed strained and far away. “I have him…barely.”
Iaido nodded. “Take him.”
Talia looked up at the hovering warship and whispered, “Do it.”
Four extremely long and amazingly pliable metal arms came out of the open cargo bay door and wrapped themselves around the shattered body of Jax. Seconds later, he and Talia were lifted inside the yawning maw of the Nemesis. Without waiting for its Captain, the ship pivoted in place and zoomed off.
Iaido turned to face the small gathering. The two SWAT officers were being attended to by some of the Saturn Sheriffs med-techs. The redheaded pirate and the blonde just stood off to the side as the redheaded deputy barked orders at her brown coated subordinates. Finally she whirled on the gathering and asked, “Does someone want to explain all this?”
Before anyone could say anything, a holographic image of Commander Cline appeared out of thin air. “I believe I can answer many of your questions Sheriff Cunningham.”
Jenny shook her head. “It’s Deputy.”
“Not anymore. By virtue of the Coalition Homestead Act of 2155, and the fact that I am the senior ranking Coalition officer in this region, I hereby appoint you to Sheriff of Saturn, pending an election of course.”
Jenny blushed but quickly regained her composer. “Thank you sir, I will do my best to restore honor to the office. My first order of business is getting to the bottom of this mess. And no one is going anywhere until I’m satisfied.” She paused but then pointed her finger directly at Iaido. “That includes you, Mr. Spartan.”
* * * * *
They had moved into the conference room and each person involved took turns telling their portion of the story. Of great concern to those in involved in the firefight was the arrival of Stephanie and the Saturn Sheriffs. Sherriff Cunningham took the time to explain.
“I’ve had my eye on Kassinger for several years. Those of us that are left from the old force have always suspected that he murdered my brother but we couldn’t prove it or even investigate. But we did keep tabs on him. When the Admiral’s house exploded this evening, we knew something was up.” Jenny pointed
to the blonde. “When Agent Cole showed up and told me about the kidnapping, I knew we finally had enough to arrest Kassinger. I called on all the loyal deputies I could find and we raced here.”
Her explanation seemed to satisfy everyone. Although the realization that Stephanie was a federal agent did shock a few people. However, Jenny didn’t allow anyone to follow that line of thought when she finally turned her attention and questions onto Iaido.
“And where do you fit into all this Mr. Spartan?”
Iaido had removed his opaque helmet and turned his storm grey eyes onto the Sheriff.
“DJ is a friend of mine. His daughter was being abused by her step-father and she called for his help. Given the influence that Admiral Thomas wielded on Titan, I assisted DJ with a cover identity. We both knew that if he arrived as himself, Kassinger would have him arrested. The Red Falcon identity was mine from many years ago, so I transferred the license and equipment to him.” Iaido pulled out a data-crystal and handed it her. “You will find all the documents needed to prove his legitimacy as a duly registered galactic bounty hunter on this crystal. Nothing he did, including rescuing his daughter, broke galactic or intergalactic law.”
Jenny huffed. “I doubt that. I can think of at least a dozen charges, including breaking and entering, destruction of government property and lying to an officer just off the top of my head.”
It was at this point when Cmdr. Cline joined the gathering. At his side was a broad shouldered pilot with graying hair at the temples and a large scar on the top of his closely shaved head. As he entered, Cmdr. Cline cleared his throat. “Sheriff Cunningham, I must remind you that everything you have heard in this room is classified under article twenty-two fourteen of Coalition law. Officially, none of this happened. Any laws, local or galactic, that have been broken by the parties in this room are hereby pardoned and forgotten.”
Seeing that she was about to object, Cmdr. Cline raised his voice slightly and continued.
“Additionally, all assets controlled and owned by Titan Avionics are hereby seized and will be held in trust until a full tribunal can be convened. I’m sure, that you will grant the military plenty of leeway in these matters as we work to clean up this mess.”
He turned to point at the officer at his side. “This is Lieutenant Brockbank, he will be acting as our military liaison for the next few days or until a replacement arrives. Until recently, he was the commander of Alpha Flight which by the way, just beat off a raid by some JDL fighters. Out of the seven ships under his command, only five made it to the tarmac but none of the Raptors were left to return to their leaders.”
Everyone silently nodded at the sacrifice the pilots had made.
After a moment, Cmdr. Cline continued. “I have ordered the rest of Alpha Flight to the Horus and to assist in the manning of the dreadnaught. However, Lieutenant Evans is currently in command of the ship and will keep it hovering directly overhead until reinforcements arrive. I have been informed that the UNCF Lexington has been rerouted from Wolf Three-Five-Nine and should be here before the end of the week. Until that time, I have been placed as acting governor of the region.”
Jenny stood up and straightened her jacket. “Sir, the Saturn Sheriffs are always proud to assist the Coalition.” She turned her attention back to the bounty hunter. “I have one last question, if I may, for Mr. Spartan. What is the condition of Jagger Jax and Staff Sergeant DeJarnette?”
Iaido lowered his head. “According to my last communiqué, Jagger Jax died on the operating table and DJ is in a medically induced coma while Talia works on him. His prognosis is good but he will be down for several weeks.”
Everyone lowered their head in silent mourning.
“I’m sorry for the loss of your friend. I would like an official statement from Staff Sergeant DeJarnette whenever he is well enough.” She handed Iaido a card. “Here are my contact codes. Please make sure he gets it.”
Iaido nodded. “I will.”
Jenny snapped a salute to the Commander before walking out to begin the lockdown of the factory and to oversee the detainment of any of the SIS officers still alive.
Iaido didn’t envy her next few months. They promised to be rife with paperwork and lengthy investigations. Stephanie nodded her goodbyes and silently slipped out of the Conference room like a ghost. Only Iaido seemed to be aware of her departure and he didn’t say anything.
Cmdr. Cline turned to face the two SWAT officers, “Officers Ernspiker and Spurgeon, I have been in contact with your captain and you have been asked to retrieve the body of Councilor Carpenter and prepare to transport her home with full honors. He will be contacting you later today to work out the details.”
Both police officers stood up, saluted and limped their way back into the bowels of the factory. They had a somber job but Teana deserved the sacrifice.
Finally, Cmdr. Cline turned to face Iaido and the ginger haired pirate. “I’m guessing it was you on the comms that wouldn’t identify yourself earlier.”
Iaido nodded. “Yes, sorry about that. I’ve had too many run-ins with narrow-minded military commanders over the years to take a chance on identifying myself.”
“Yes, I’m aware of your record.”
Iaido raised an eyebrow at that statement but didn’t say anything.
Cmdr. Cline grinned. “In fact, you were the primary subject of a very interesting call I received less than ten minutes ago from the President.”
“Really? Do tell.”
“It seems that I’m supposed to extend you any courtesy and smooth things over with the locals. No questions asked.”
Iaido rubbed his chin. “Hmm, maybe he’ll keep his word this time. Only time will tell.”
Cmdr. Cline had no idea what he was talking about but then, it didn’t matter. His orders were to ask no questions of the deadly bounty hunter, so that was what he was going to do. He held his hand out.
“Well, it was a pleasure working with you Mr. Spartan.”
They shook hands.
“I doubt that’s true, Commander but I’m sure we will see each other again.”
Cmdr. Cline turned away and began talking with Lt. Brockbank. The Alpha Flight commander was giving his pass down report concerning some anomalies his flight had seen in route. Of particular interest to Iaido was the description of a large unidentified vessel on the very edge of their passive radar right before their descent to Titan. The lieutenant was saying something else when the two Coalition officers moved out of earshot.
Turning his attention back to the red-headed pirate, Iaido found her studying him. Without a word, he picked up his helmet and began heading out.
The Hurricane Venus fell in beside him. “You know Spartan, you’re not exactly what I’d imagined.”
“How’s that?”
“Well, for starters you’re much shorter. To hear the stories Mörder told about you, I would’ve guessed you to be much bigger, taller, more menacing looking.”
Iaido chuckled. “I’m glad to disappoint you.”
“Oh, I’m not disappointed…not at all.”
Iaido didn’t catch the barely veiled innuendo. “Let me ask you a question. Why were you with the pirates? You don’t seem to be cut from the same cloth.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.” She smiled. “Mörder was interested in breaking out several prisoners from the Freezer. It just so happens, an old acquaintance of mine is also a popsicle at the moment. We were helping each other out, nothing more.”
That was important information. If Mörder was interested in breaking out some prisoners, the odds were that they were also Praetorians. Nothing else would motivate him. “You have any ideas which prisoners?”
“Sure, what’s it to you?”
“Let’s just say that if my hunch is correct, I’ll owe you one.”
Venus cocked her head to the side and pulled out her datapad. Inserting a data-crystal, she typed in the information and added the cell of her friend. “It sounds as if you have some power
ful friends. If this is really worth something, see if you can get Miranda released.”
“I can’t promise anything but I’ll try.”
“That’s enough for me.”
Reaching her ship, Venus was about to climb aboard when Iaido stopped her. “I have a message for you from Jax.”
That got her attention. “I thought you said he was dead.”
Iaido grinned. “I might’ve stretched the truth a bit. Although legally, he was dead. However, Talia is a very talented mystic and was able to bring him back. He is still critical and has a long road ahead of him but he’ll live.”
“That’s the best news I’ve heard all day. What was his message?”
“We’re even, whatever that means.”
Venus smiled once again. Iaido thought it was a pretty smile.
“It’s a pirate thing. You wouldn’t understand.” Turning away, she climbed aboard her ship but spoke over her shoulder. “See ya around Spartan.”
Iaido watched the pirate’s ship fly off and had the sneaking suspicion that she was right. He would see her again. Then his eyes landed on the dark form of the Horus. Even he had to admit that it was an impressive ship. Although its existence didn’t bode well for the fragile peace between the Coalition and the Confederacy; they were already suspicious and fearful of each other. A vessel like the Horus could tip the scales and the galaxy would find itself at war with itself once again.
Iaido shook his head to clear it of such depressing thoughts and turned toward the red and black Kestrel of the faux Falcon. What he didn’t explain to Sheriff Cunningham was that he had already filed the proper paperwork with the Galactic Commission to seize all of Nichols’ assets. He had already heard back from his lawyer and everything was approved. Climbing on his new ship, Iaido quickly fired her up and within moments, he was airborne.
Punching up the comms-system, he waited as the Aetós followed him and Aeolus came over the private channel. “Yes sir, how may I be of service?”
The Last Spartan 2: DJ's Mission Page 23